Posted on 03/09/2006 6:48:25 AM PST by Huck
Who's laughing now?
New Jersey, the state that spawned a thousand wise-guy bumper stickers and became the butt of a million late-night jokes, is actually a nice place to live.
The research group Morgan Quitno crunched the numbers this year and yesterday ranked New Jersey the fifth-most-livable state.
As for its neighbors?
Pennsylvania finished 30th, New York 32d.
"The people we talk to say they wouldn't live anywhere else, and I have to go along with that," said Mark Moran, a Bloomfield resident and one of the editors of Weird New Jersey magazine. "Whether it grows on you or people just don't know any better, I don't know."
New Jersey has long had a tragically poor reputation, earned by corrupt politicians, homicidal mobsters (real and fictional), surreal traffic patterns (who invented the jughandle, anyway?), toxic waste, and big hair.
The state's image has been so bad that even then-acting Gov. Richard Codey took the time last year to rollick in some of the more humorous entries in his public slogan contest.
Among the favorites: "New Jersey: You got a problem with that?" and "New Jersey: Most of our elected officials have not been indicted."
Morgan Quitno, a Kansas-based publisher of statistical data, based its rankings on 44 factors, and New Jersey shined in many.
The state moved up from eighth place a year ago. New Hampshire was judged the most livable state for the third year in a row.
The study determined that New Jersey has excellent schools; an educated, wealthy population; and relatively low rates of crime and poverty.
"We don't claim to be finding the most exciting place or the best place to take a vacation," said Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno. "It's just looking at very basic things. Other people can choose to look at other factors."
In other words, the things that make Jersey so Jersey didn't count against it. (Except for the toxic waste: Morgan found New Jersey had the most "hazardous waste sites on the National Priority List per 10,000 square miles.")
Moran also noted that if auto insurance and property tax rates had been considered, New Jersey's ranking would have sunk like a stone.
But in Morgan Quitno's world, livability is measured by factors such as student-teacher ratios and per-capita spending on the arts, and New Jersey excelled in both.
For Moran, there is no conflict in a state's combining livability with a tradition for the weird and absurd.
"You've got to take the good with the bad," he said. "The fact that it's such an odd and unique place... certainly makes it more livable for me."
Morgan visited the state last year and made a swing through Camden, the city his publishing company has famously labeled the most dangerous the last two years.
"We didn't advertise who we were," he said.
Only one Southern state in the top 10. The last 6 are Southern states. Hogwash I say.
I agree with you on all but one thing: NJ sucks if you cherish individual liberties. We're still the model nanny-state and only getting more-so.
You'll get no argument from this Low Country boy.
NJ would be perfect if we could fix the socialist claws squeezing us by our necks.
I really enjoy having mountains, farmland, beach and city within a 2 hour access of my home.
::laughing!::
I know where you are!
Wow! I feel really odd. We went to New Jersey last year for our summer vacation.
Wouldn't that be a GOOD thing? If we hit BK, that means the feds come in. Then we would get the housecleaning that NJ needs.
Does anything else happen if a state hits BK that I should realize?
I live in Ohio, but over the years I have spent a lot of time in NJ, mostly visiting friends in Bergen and Morris County, and vacationing in Cape May Point. The traffic is bad a lot of the time, but that's the case in almost every metro area. The schools, esp. the parochial schools, are excellent. The wide variety of excellent restaurants is fantastic. The only real downside to living in NJ (outside of the inner-city blight of Orange Co. and Camden) is the price of housing. My house in Ohio would cost 3X what it would cost in a comparable neighborhood in NJ.
The Census data show:
- Florida, the third-fastest growing state, gained an average 1,090 people a day, bringing its population to 17.4 million. The population estimate covers the period before four major hurricanes battered the state in August and September.
- North Carolina and New Mexico replaced California and Hawaii among the 10 fastest-growing states.
- Nevada was the fastest growing state for the 18th consecutive year.
- Massachusetts lost population for the first time in more than a decade.
- California remained by far the most populous state at 35.9 million. Foreign immigration fueled much of its growth in the past year. But California continues to lose more residents to other states than it gains from the rest of the USA.
- Colorado, long one of the top destinations for people leaving California, lost more people to other states than it gained for the second year in a row. But immigration and births pushed its population up 1.2%, to 4.6 million.
From USAToday
My father was mugged in Camden and when he reported the police response was 'so what, you must have been drunk and you had it coming'. This was in 1937. Some things don't change.
Jersey gets such a bad rap because of a handful of overcrowed cities. Outside, Jersey City, Newark, Camden, Trenton, Elizabeth and most of Hudson county, New Jersey is a beautiful state. I have a good friend from England who now lives in Basking Ridge and he says many areas of Morris and Hunterdon Co. reminds him of Dorset County in England. Unfortunately, popular culture is fixated only on organized crime, traffic jams, pollution and a certain gay Governer.
Where to start with this. I suppose yes, when compared to NY, NJ seems like the MOST livable place in the world. I suspect that is the motivation for people who answered this survey. Hey, I work in NY, but am sure glad I live in NJ. But is that really saying much? If you were living between the boonies and hell, but in neither, you would think you had it pretty good. Its called Jersification, the belief that just because you pay alot for a house (which is small as hell and needs a ton of work or for new, affordable construction is practically in PA anyway), can get to some beach (albeit an ugly one), get to some mountains (which are more like big bumps) and are able to escape hell (living in or around NYC), you have it the best in the world. You don't, it just seems that way.
The reality is that people are heading to PA in DROVES!!! Bucks county is booming. As I said above, in order to afford new construction you have to live almost in PA anyway. Why not live in PA and pay the lower taxes for the love of adding 25-30 minutes to your commute. With comrade Corrzine in charge, you can bet that things aren't going to improve anytime soon. The big debate he is having is whether to sock it to us with an increased gas tax or tax on clothes. What is not in debate is increasing borrowing and increasing the taxes on the so called "rich," you know, anyone who can afford a pot to piss in. Hell, he even wants to tax 401(k)'s
Add in the lousy traffic, pollution, overcrowding and you have a hell of a cocktail. Sure, there are farms where I live too. There are horses. There are a bunch of nice things, but I could get those nice things in some other state for a FAR FAR cheaper price. In the end, the only thing I can't get is proximity to NYC. Is not being near that liberal den such a bad thing? Not with sattelite TV and an NFL/MLB package it isn't.
Yer right on the money. A little further out west from Basking Ridge is the Bedminster/Peapack/Gladstone area, where some of the wealthiest people in the world live. Big country mansions.
yer just a glass is half empty kinda guy. sucks to be you.
You definitely miss the restaurants. Try finding good places to eat in Alabama or Mississippi. I hope you like pulled pork!
NJ has a high cost of living, but the standard is so much higher
It's so obvious. A Lexus costs more than a Hyundai FOR A REASON!!
I'm so used to breaking the law, I really never notice. If you have to wait for the gubmint to give you permission to be free, you're in for a long wait pretty much anywhere. As far as nannystatism goes, I think it comes with the population density. Personally, I don't think I'm living any differently than I would anywhere else.
"Well, if you're heading south, you could like it if you're on your way to the shore, or maybe to red bank to catch a band and some dinner, or even going all the way down to cape may to eat lunch on the beach and watch the dolphins swimming around.
If you are heading north, maybe you are headed up to the Catskills or the Adirondacks for a weekend getaway, or perhaps you're going to the city for some entertainment."
Nice Try, Won't Work.
Yeah, what you point out is true. But how is it cool to go to Manhattan when it takes 4 hours to go the 12 miles?
I live in lowly, 30th place PA. I go to my favorite place, 45 miles away. It takes about 25 minutes. I only have to dodge an Amish buggy or two on the way.
Jersey Shore? I'll pass.
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